Ebola response ineffectual

Kent Brantly, the medical missionary who survived a brush with the deadly Ebola virus, told reporters Thursday that God saved his life through faith, prayer and great medical care.

Dr. Brantly and Nancy Writebol, a U.S. missionary, contracted the Ebola virus while working with victims of the disease in Liberia. Both recovered after being given the experimental drug ZMapp and follow-up care in an isolation unit at Emory University Hospital.

"I am thrilled to be alive, to be well, and to be reunited with my family," Dr. Brantly, flanked by members of his treatment team, said.

It was a triumphant moment. The deadly virus seemed to have been beaten this time, raising hope that we might now have a better chance of beating it again.

Yet, it was also a sobering moment, because even while we cheer Dr. Brantly's and Ms. Writebol's recovery, the death toll from the disease continues to mount in West Africa, where ZMapp and miracles are in short supply.

Among the dead is Sheik Umar Khan, the Sierra Leone doctor who led the fight against the Ebola outbreak in his country. He succumbed to the disease after his treatment team decided not to provide him with the experimental drug, which they had on hand.

According to a New York Times article, the team felt that Dr. Khan's virus levels were so high that the drug might not work. But of more concern, the team feared that Western medical institutions might come under suspicion if Dr. Khan, "one of the country's most prominent physicians and a national hero," died after being administered the drug, according to the article.

The doses of the drugs withheld from Dr. Khan were the ones subsequently administered to Dr. Brantly and Ms. Writebol.

But even if more of the drug becomes available, one cannot underestimate the substandard health care systems to which Ebola patients are exposed in West Africa. Bruce Ribner, an infectious disease doctor and head of a special isolation unit at Emory University Hospital, spoke to this Thursday.

"We were very hopeful that with the level of support we can deliver in our facility, we would have a substantially better outcome than our colleagues practicing with lesser developed health care systems," he said.

Indeed, non-governmental organizations, like Doctors Without Borders and Samaritan's Purse, with which Dr. Brantly and Ms. Writebol are affiliated, are the leading entities battling infectious diseases in places like Africa.

Ken Isaacs, vice president at Samaritan's Purse and a former director at the U.S. Agency for International Development, in testimony to a House committee earlier this month, essentially told lawmakers that the international community's response to the Ebola epidemic "has been a failure."

"The Ebola crisis was not a surprise to us at Samaritan's Purse," he told the committee.

"We saw it coming back in April. If there was any one thing that needed to demonstrate a lack of attention of the international community on this crisis, which has now become an epidemic, it was the fact the international community was comfortable in allowing two relief agencies to provide all of the clinical care for Ebola victims in three countries."

Thursday, Dr. Brantly said he hopes his ordeal will bring attention to the plight of those affected with the virus in Africa.

"Please, continue to pray for Liberia and the people of West Africa, and encourage those in the position of leadership and influence to do everything possible to bring this Ebola outbreak to an end," he said.